What would you do about this stereo
 

So my rear speakers and sub woofer ( all stock ) are not playing loud at all. I want to keep my stock H.U . I thought about adding an amp to the back for the rear speakers and subwoofer. But if the H.U. is causing the the low volume issue in the rear maybe an amp will have no effect.

May be as simple as needing to adjust all the settings in the radio itself ?
In my SS with the Premium system, I have the fader set at +3 to the rear. Even then, the front speakers are still much louder than the rears. Just the fact of the rear speakers location make it hard for their sound to get up front.
Adjusting the bass, loudness, equalizer and such can make it sound better than the "default" settings.

Yes, try a CD. XM is pretty good but not the same sound quality as a CD.

The rear speakers in every GM are always far quieter than the fronts. I've had 2 GMs with Bose systems and the back speakers were weak. In other words they are filler to round out the sound.

The sub setup is and always has been a disappointment. Stereo sound systems are a science. The Sub in the HHR is not setup like a true component system. Most of the bass still goes to the front speakers. Your best and most cost effective approach is to replace the front speakers. For under $100 there are lots of speakers that will fit without modification and will dramatically improve the sound quality.

Thats good to hear. I would rather replace speakers and add a new amp for the rear than replace my H.U

So I added a small kicker 2 channel amp to the rear for the rear speakers. Hookup was easy. Much improved sound now. Problem is noise. I picked up electronic noise through the rear speakers. I have added a ground loop Isolator to the RCA wires. ( Helped a little ) , Bought better quality RCA wires ( no effect ) , Added a power in line noise filter ( No Effect ). Still get humming and ticking through speakers. All grounds are good. My next step is to try a different power source for the amp remote wire. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

The noise came after the amp was added? Where did you get power and ground for it? Polarity?

It sounds like you are throwing money and components at it. Have you thought about giving Crutchfield a call? They should be able to steer in the right direction on what you need to do. The do have vehicle specific diagrams available for wiring and mounting things.

Nice, I didn't realize they had instructions available for free.

:roflol:

Yes noise came in after amp install. The amp is connected directly to the battery.

Thanks for the link. I did get info. from crutchfield but i did not find that info. I am going to try the gain control again on the amp to help with the noise. Its crazy how much noise it picks up. I can hear the noise increase from the accelerator, touching the brake pedal, etc.

Since it's an issue with the add-on amp, maybe contact that company and ask how to resolve the problem.

Is there a noise filter available ?

Well i solved the problem ( kind of ). I re-connected the stock amp back up. Then I connected my aftermarket amp to the rear speaker outputs and all the noise is gone. So the stock amp somehow filters out all the electrical interfernce the head unit picks up.